


Hot Chocolate and Cherry Lollipop

by destimushi



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 13x17 coda, Hurt Gabriel (Supernatural), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Spoilers, s13 spoilers, soft fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-20 02:06:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14250756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destimushi/pseuds/destimushi
Summary: Sam’s stomach twists and churns. He stares at the sliver of light, the gate between worlds, and he waits for another beat before turning around to face Gabe.Gabe.Season 13 episode 17 **SPOILERS**





	Hot Chocolate and Cherry Lollipop

**Author's Note:**

> s13 episode 17 coda, because it seems like I'm incapable of NOT writing Sabriel codas. Extremely spoiler heavy!
> 
> [This has been translated into Russian! If you read Russian, please head on over there to give the story some love!](https://ficbook.net/readfic/6735432)

A flash of light. Bright. Stinging. And Dean’s gone.

Sam’s stomach twists and churns. He stares at the sliver of light, the gate between worlds, and he waits for another beat before turning around to face Gabe.

_Gabe._

It’s so unreal, so heartbreaking to see this slip of a man shrink in his seat, becoming even smaller. Sam’s heart aches and a surge or pure, unadulterated rage floods through him and boils beneath his skin. Asmodeus has had Gabe all this time, has been doing God knows what to him, leeching his grace like a grotesque vampire.

How Gabe ended up Asmodeus’ prisoner is another conversation for another day. With Dean gone, Sam has twenty-four hours to…to what? Take care of Gabe? Where does he even begin?

Sam glances at Gabe and sighs, his eyes skirting the blood-crusted twine on the table, chopped in pieces. What sick bastard would do that to another person? As soon as the thought hit him, Sam shakes his head and chuckles. A demon would.

And so would he. If Sam ever got his hands on Colonel Sanders, he’d soak his pompous white suit red. Give back to him every little thing he did to Gabe with interest. Sam takes a deep breath and calms his nerves. It would do them no good for him to agitate like this. He’s got more important to do. Things like taking care of Gabe.

“Hey, Gabriel.” Nothing except for a small flinch and Sam’s heart breaks all over again. “I’ll, uh, I’ll be right back.”

Sam wants to move them to the library and get settled on the couch, but he can’t leave the rift unattended in case someone or something tries to come through. He puts the kettle on and rummages through the pantry until he finds what he’s looking for. Turning around, he pulls two mugs from the cabinet.

He still doesn’t know what to do. How does he even begin to sooth the jagged, raw edges of Gabriel’s violated soul? Do they just pick up where they left off? How does he mend his  _own_  broken heart, still cracked and in pieces from losing Gabe the first time? The ghost of Gabe’s touch still haunts him, the sweet taste of his kisses a lingering specter on his tongue.

Artificial cherry. Sweet and fragrant and—

A broken sob echoes. It’s him, but Sam doesn’t recognize the sound. Doesn’t register the hurt until it’s manifested into something audible. The kettle shrills, snaps Sam out of his thoughts, and he wipes his eyes with the back of his hand before ripping the paper packets and pouring hot chocolate mix into each mug.

The aroma of sugar and cream permeates the air, its tendrils wrap around Sam like a long forgotten lover. A lover lost and found, and, hopefully, not so broken Sam can help put him back together again.

Sam grabs the mugs, pauses, and pulls Dean’s box of Oreos from the pantry. He’ll buy him a new box later. With cookies tucked under his arm and a mug of steaming hot chocolate in each hand, Sam makes his way back.

Gabe hasn’t moved from where Sam left him, his eyes vacant as he stares at some unseen horror. His lips—so plump and playful in Sam’s memory—are black with dried blood. The Archangel doesn’t even have enough strength to heal himself. Or, perhaps, he’s given up trying to mend what will be ripped apart again with every fresh scream.

No, Sam will not let himself go down that route. Not going to let his rage blind him right now. Dean needs him. And Gabe needs him. Another deep breath, a pause, and the red haze in his vision recede as he places a mug and the box of Oreos in front of Gabe.

“Hot chocolate, your favourite.” Sam sits in the chair across from Gabe. “And those are Dean’s, so they’ll taste extra good, right?”

Gabe doesn’t respond. Doesn’t appear like he’s heard. Sam swallows the lump in his throat and sips at his mug. The days, weeks, months after Gabe died, Sam wanted nothing more than a chance to sit down and talk to him one last time. Now that the chance has come, he’s drawing a blank.

The silence eats at him, picks at the scabs of his old wounds until fresh blood seeps through. It hurts, but Sam’s sure his pain is nothing compared to what Gabe has gone through, is still going through.

“You still make that face when you think too hard,” Gabe croaks, his voice raspy like sandpaper, but it’s the best sound Sam’s ever heard. His head snaps up, and he finds liquid amber eyes trained on him. “Can you get me a straw?” Gabe points at his lips, a weak smile twitches in the corners.

Oh, God. How stupid is Sam to serve Gabe a hot drink when his mouth is in such bad shape. “Oh, crap. Uh, I can get you something cool to drink—”

“No, this is fine. But I can’t open my mouth very well.”

Sam nods and pushes to his feet. He rushes back with a straw, then pulls his chair closer to Gabe before sitting down. He places the straw in the mug and brings it to Gabe’s mouth. Gabe pulls the straw between his lips, winces, and pulls with a gentle suck. He takes tiny sips, moaning around each mouthful until the mug is empty.

“Ah, but that is the good stuff,” Gabe says. Colour has returned to his cheeks, and though he’s still filthy from head to toe, something eases in his eyes.

“You want a cookie?”

Gabe shakes his head. “Maybe later.”

Sam puts the mug down and leans back in his chair, his knee so close to Gabe he only needs to twitch and their legs will touch. But he doesn’t dare, doesn’t want to put any more demands on Gabe.

“Do you want a blanket? A book? I can bring the laptop here and we can watch a movie?” Sam tries to fill the empty silence with chatter, but even to his own ears, his voice sounds strained.

“I sat in a cell for longer than I can remember,” Gabe says. “Got pretty good at entertaining myself.”

Sam flinches as if slapped, and he’s not sure what to say. What can he say? Something presses into the side of his knee, the pressure gentle, timid, but it’s a solid contact that sends Sam’s heart racing through the galaxies. His eyes snap to Gabe’s leg then to his eyes, and there’s a small glint of mirth there.

“You know what I’d die for right now?”

“Bad choice of words, but what?”

“A cherry lollipop.”

Sam huffs a chuckle and something loosens in his chest. The Gabe he knows is in there, and, maybe, given enough love and care and hot chocolate, he will come back to Sam. “As soon as Dean gets back, I’ll get you all the candy you want.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“I don’t doubt.”  


End file.
